Worldwide, approximately 1.6 billion people have no access to electricity and another 1 billion have extremely unreliable access. Without reliable access to electricity, the poor depend primarily on kerosene-fueled lanterns, candles and battery-powered flashlights for their lighting needs. Access to lighting is extremely important for a family's quality of life, health, safety, educational achievements, and economic livelihood. “Base of the economic Pyramid” (BoP) Consumers worldwide spend about $38 billion per year on kerosene for light. At the household level it is common to spend 10-30% of household income on lighting. Additionally, nearly 500 million people worldwide have a mobile connection but no access to the electricity grid. In most areas, these types of users have to walk long distances to access charging services in the nearest market centers connected to the grid.
Modern power energy systems configured to power single- and multiple-family households, such as, for example, solar power systems have proven to be very desirable for customers all over the world. The solar power systems range from small hand-held solar powered lanterns that replace a single kerosene lamp to fixed larger multi-light solar home systems which can meet multiple household energy needs. However, large scale adoption of power systems such as solar systems has been slow primarily because consumers cannot afford the high up-front cost of purchasing a power energy system or do not have access to affordable financing options. Furthermore, safe, high-quality, low-cost and accessible credit that is needed to match household incomes that are low, irregular, and often unpredictable is typically not available. Accordingly, wide distribution of power energy systems configured for single- and multiple-family households has been so far hindered or almost non-existent.